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This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.

I can't pinpoint an example, but I'm sure there are quite a number of series that picture "destroying computers" as smashing the keyboards or something. An appropriate Computer Equals Keyboard or more general idea could work. — the_it

Red Shoe: I'm reminded of a true story. Many years ago, a friend of mine, a foreign exchange student, sat down at one of the workstations in the graphic arts lab and began furiously typing on the computer. It wasn't until he tried to insert a floppy disk that he noticed that something was up. He started shouting "Does this computer work? Where's drive 'A'?" — except that, with his accent, it came out as, "This computer work. Where driveway?" As it was 1996 at the time, and the bar for computer saaviness was a lot lower, it took quite a bit of work to get him to understand the problem: He was sitting at a monitor and keyboard. The computer itself had been removed.

Silverfish:I've removed
"The perception is lampshaded, and the trope averted, in Buffy when Evil Angel "destroys" the computer with the details of his soul-curse on it but, knowing nothing about technology, he simply smashes the monitor, leaving the computer intact and the information ready to be found."

I removed this before the crash, as the information wasn't ready to be retrieved, but was found on a separate floppy disk which got found in the finale, and when Willow looks through Jenny Calendar's files a few episodes later, there is no mention of the soul-curse. In the scene where Angelus destroys the computer, he brings the whole unit crashing to the floor, although the focus is on the monitor, and I think it's the monitor that catches fire, and which Angelus burns the printout on, so this might be semi-example, but I'm not convinced.

The Toon Geekette: Oh, God, I finally got around to reading that recent Dr. McNinja strip today, and I was just thinking Ben's quote would be perfect to encapsulate this trope, and now I see both the quote and the picture were added on today...yeah, I got nothing else to say except thank you, Meta Four!
Wook Muff: Or, to put it another way, Curse you Meta Four and your rapid updates! I totally thought "Aha, I shall add this example and then I, Wook Muff, shall be the one who is the hero!" in my mojo jojo thinkin' voice!

Michael: Per the CSI example, metal things inside a computer can absolutely short out the motherboard causing the system to just power off to avoid damage. Sometimes even the case can have this effect.

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